Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

The Plumber — The Mentality Every Competitive Player Needs By Paul Dale | 3AM Online Tennis Consulting “The Plumber”: A Lesson from Rod Laver’s Ruthless Mentality In the golden age of tennis during the 1960s, Rod Laver was described by his peers as “The Plumber.” He wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t glamorous. But his game was ruthlessly effective. Why? Because when Rod stepped onto the court, he didn’t show off. He didn’t care about applause or aesthetics. He showed up, got the job done , and left as quickly as possible — just like a plumber working beneath the house in the cold, damp, dirty crawlspace. A place nobody wants to be any longer than necessary. He worked where no one could see him — fixing what needed fixing — then vanished. And this is a mindset more tennis players need. The Problem: Hanging Around Too Long In today’s game, too many players linger. They’ve built a lead, have momentum, and can practically see the finish line — yet they hesitate. Why? Because it’s fun. ...

Winning points in tennis is more than just hitting big shots—there are multiple ways to win points, and as a coach, your job is to help your players develop these winning options. Here are five different ways to help your players win points more in competition. 1. Take Time Away from Your Opponent Time is precious for a tennis player, and the less time your opponent has to react, the more pressure they feel. When your opponent is rushed, they are more likely to make errors or poor decisions that you can take advantage of. There are two main ways to take time away from opponents: Play Inside the Court – Encourage your players to step forward over the baseline and take the ball earlier on every opportunity. I call this " Inside Feet ". This reduces the amount of time your opponent has to react to their next shot. Playing inside the baseline also allows you to take control of the point - you're playing proactively while your opponent is forced to react to your shots.  Incre...

The Blue Elephant: Helping Players Stay Focused When Distraction Strikes (เวอร์ชันไทยด้านล่าง) By Paul Dale | The 3AM Tennis Method In my years working with competitive junior players, one of the most common — and frustrating — challenges I face is helping talented tennis players translate their practice performance into real match results. These players can strike the ball cleanly, move well, and execute drills as well as anyone. But when tournament day comes, something unravels. Their game becomes shaky, inconsistent, and the confidence we thought we’d built seems to vanish. One recent case brought this issue sharply into focus. Meet Kevin: A Case of Potential vs. Performance Kevin was one of those players coaches love to have. Technically solid, smart on the court, and coachable. After working together for a few months, his confidence rose, and his results reflected it — finals in two consecutive tournaments. It felt like we were finally turning a corner. Then came the setbac...